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Abbotsford ecstasy overdose prompts warning

Abbotsford woman in critical condition in latest B.C. overdose

Police and health officials are warning about the dangers of taking large amounts of ecstasy after a spate of recent overdoses and deaths involving young people in British Columbia and Alberta.

A 24-year-old Abbotsford woman is on the brink of becoming that city’s second ecstasy overdose death in as many weeks after taking up to 10 pills at a New Year’s Eve party; meanwhile, Calgary police are investigating whether a party on the same night brought the city’s fourth ecstasy-related death in the past four weeks.

The Abbotsford woman, whose name has not been released, is in critical condition after paramedics responded to a call about 6 a.m. and found her unconscious at a home in the 33700-block of George Ferguson Way. Just days earlier, 17-year-old Cheryl McCormack died after taking one or two ecstasy pills as a weight loss supplement with three other girlfriends during a sleepover.

“We’ve got two people that would seem to be on other ends of the spectrum,” said Abbotsford police spokesman Const. Ian MacDonald. “One that is taking it under the false impression it’s going to help her with weight loss and the other one who was more experienced with the drug.

“And yet they still ended up in the same place — the hospital.”

The ecstasy wasn’t believed to be spiked in either case, MacDonald said, but the latest incident prompted police to issue a public warning urging people to avoid taking the illicit drug.

Ecstasy is also known as MDMA and can cost as little as $10 per pill. Ecstasy is often laced — in varying degrees of potency — with other drugs such as methamphetamine, ketamine and cocaine, which have their own adverse effects.

Dr. Julian Marsden, an emergency room physician at St. Paul’s Hospital for the past 19 years, said he has seen the drug become more mainstream and in recent years an average of three ecstasy overdoses are treated at his hospital every week. Often the patients arrive from concerts, Marsden said.

People who suffer an adverse reaction to ecstasy can have psychotic breakdowns, hallucinations and agitation as well as seizures, kidney failure and, in rare cases, heart attacks, he said. “Their activity level is so high combined with the effect of the drug — causing the blood vessels to restrict — that their muscles break down.”

There were a total of six overdose deaths from “psychostimulants” including ecstasy and crystal meth in the province in 2009, according to the B.C. Vital Statistics Agency’s latest figures. That is up from four the previous year, but down from eight overdose deaths in 2007.

Police say part of the problem is that ecstasy, or MDMA, is a cheap and accessible drug — making it especially appealing to young people.

“The majority of individuals seem to be in their teens to mid-20s,” said Staff Sgt. Mike Bossley of the Calgary police department’s drug unit. “The drug was a popular drug for raves in the past, but that has changed and now we’re seeing it in house parties and much smaller gatherings than big, huge, organized events such as raves.”

Abbotsford police believe that with both of the recent overdoses the ecstasy was ordered via a dial-a-dope operation and are looking for information on the suppliers.

“From an accessibility standpoint with dial-a-dope operations, regrettably, accessibility is: ‘Do you have a cellphone and do you have cash?’” MacDonald said. “It’s like ordering a pizza — you order your toppings and then you get it.”

MacDonald said youths have told police that they have gone to a drug dealer for another substance and been given “freebies” of ecstasy to take with them. “There certainly doesn’t seem to be any lack in quantity of ecstasy [on the streets],” the officer said.

The New Year’s Eve group, who range in age from 23 to 31, told police they each popped up to seven pills throughout the night and took their last dose about 4 a.m. at one of the friends’ homes on George Ferguson Way.

The friends, all recreational users of the drug, told police the victim began panicking after the last dose, but it wasn’t until she became unconscious two hours later — about 6 a.m. — that they phoned 911.

By all accounts she was an ordinary 24-year-old and had no previous run-ins with the law, according to MacDonald.

“The disturbing thing is they ingested numerous tablets through the night and their assertion is she took more tablets than they did.”

On Dec. 22, McCormack, a Robert Bateman secondary student, died after taking ecstasy with three friends during a sleepover.

The death of another Abbotsford resident, a 20-year-old, was linked to an ecstasy overdose in early December, MacDonald said.